Hey there! as you all know I am still searching for a new narc dog for my Department....I just got a call from my chief...he wants me to go and take a look at these puppies at this kennel that ive never heard of in a town that is not too far away from me; that he found for me and Im not at all pleased at what he said about them....he told me that they are GSD/wolf mix.....Im just about too afraid to even go by there and take a look at them. For some reason the mixed breed/ that breed just rubs me the wrong way. I guess it is the term WOLF. who knows. But really i wanted to know if this dog is going to be too dominant or too agressive. but i made sure to ask again if I am picking the dog that I am going to train and live with or is the department...and my chief assured me that I was to be the one to make the last decision. So I was definately happy about that. What do you think?

Chiefs don't know sh*t about picking out dogs. Tell your Chief thanks but no thanks. Is he looking for a lawsuit? I can imagine the media getting ahold of this one. A wolf hybrid as a PSD...That'll make headlines.

thank you!....and your definatly right chiefs dont know much about alot of things. I just got some more news about these dogs. The owner is one of my chiefs close friends. imagine that. I dont want a dog like that and im sure not going to buy a dog from someone that just breeds their own personal dog to be MY working dog and im sure not going to buy a dog just because my chief says so. I suppose the only reason for him poking his head into this is because i am taking so long trying to find a dog. This will be the first time that ive bought a dog. and the first time that I will be a K-9 officer as well. what i am doing is actually learning about the breed first before I make my decision.

Buying a pup in the hopes of raising a PSD is a long shot. You are better off getting an older dog. Now of course if you are dead set on a puppy, I might know of a place...HEHE

would that place happen to be Rolling Acres Shepherds?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> HEHE.....Honestly Im not sure what I am dead set on. but im thinking that I wouldent be able to find a gsd that was already trained in NARC for sale. And if I did i would be worried if the dog would look at me and think "Lady why the heck are you giving me commands?" LOL I dont know.....any Suggestions are welcome

Most dogs that people bill as part wolf are generally part husky and not part wolf. Either
way it is not a mix that is good for anything let alone a PSD. If it is part wolf they are generally fear biters and will not take correction like a dog. Despite what the people that read a little too much Jack London will claim, they do not even make a decent sled dog.

That is a really BAD IDEA! I have some limited experience with Hybrids. They are not dogs that I would consider for any kind of training. There temperaments are inconsistant, even within litters, and they have a problem. Natural fear and mistrust of humans, mixed with domestic intincts of dogs.

They are not working animals, and most hybrid owners and breeders (that know their animals) will be the first ones to tell you.

You should take a look at these links and mail them to your boss.

Ed's Hybrid Articles

If you scroll down to the bottom you will see a list of some other articles as well.

Hybrids are BS dogs.

Hello All:
Romi, I was wondering, if you are a first time handler and this will be your first dog, what kind of training/maintenance program does your department have in place? Who is going to help you in this area? Is this going to be a single purpose or dual purpose K9? Are there any other K9 officers on your dept that could lend you a hand regarding training/purchasing equipment, etc. What kind of certification is the dog going to have (POST training,etc) Are you going to just handle your beat and also have a K9 in the car, or will you be able to work a directed patrol? If you haven't, take a look at the Q&A section on this site as it pertains to training PSD's, also check out the articles on why depts drop their K9 programs. There is quite a lot of information out there. Raising a puppy into a working K9 is going to be a very big project, especially if you don't have a strong network of helpers and trainers to help you along especially during times of crisis. In terms of deployment and application, it is always better to go with an trained adult dog. Even a young green dog will have to go through quite a bit a training, but when you are dealing with a puppy, you are going to have at least a two year period that you will have to work the dog on your own before you can have it evaluated to see if it will even make the final cut for your agency. Also, you mentioned this would be a narcotic dog. Do you "currently" have access to the necessary drugs for training. Or will you be using psuedo, etc? I just think that with all the hard work and negative press out there, I would hate to see someone who has convinced the Chief to start or expand a K9 program will have the deck stacked against them if something happens and they fail. Also, if your Chief is wanted you to look at Wolf hybrid pups, that is a major red flag. I am assuming that your Chief is a professional Law Enforcement Officer with many years of experience under his belt. Him making that kind of statement makes it sound like he is lacking good information regarding K9's and their abilities as well as liabilities. Also, I would be cautious of having a new handler look and evaluate a dog for service work. I would hate to see a department have the option to have a K9 and then have it's program fail due to poor planning.
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Just my $.02 worth,
Brandon

hey hey!....well heres the deal...I do have a professional trainer lined up for myself and the dog. he has helped out quite a few departments in the past with the training/handeling of their K-9's...Yes this will be my first time as a K-9 Handeler...we will be on patrol on all of my shifts, writing tickets, making arrests, all the normal stuff, but obviously if I make an arrest then I will have to call out another car to transport the inmate to Jail. and I will obviously be called off of traffic or whatever i'm doing to search vehicles for other officers; the dog will come home with me every night. as far as certifications go we will be doing narc. and more than likely police protection. I have already ruled out training for SAR because that will be sooooo much work. but as far as searching out the dog; I am doing this and going to my trainer for feedback on the type of dog I will be needing as well what he thinks about this candidate dogs drive, personality...etc.

continued.....as far as the proper drugs to train that is covered. and its not like this department has never had a k-9 program before they had one a few years ago that didint go too well the dog and the trainer left the department right after training for bigger and better things. I work in a small department but the town is really really growing; its a rural of Oklahoma City so as OKC expands then the little towns @ OKC do too.....i think i got all of your questions in...if i forgot let me know; the last thing i would want you guys to think is that im totally not prepared for this dog. I do admit that it is alot overwhelming for me; but i think once finding a dog is not the issue then things will go alot smoother.....oh yeah, as far as my chief goes he is a professional that has had alot of Law Enforcement under his belt but unfortunately he has never trained a dog or learned that much about them. so I kindof explained to him in the nicest way possible that I would not reccommend us getting a wolf hybrid dog because of some of the things that I have read on ed's pages and that issue is now over. I can assure you we will not be getting a dog like that. And also thank you for your $.02 cents worth everybody...and if you have more dont be afraid to question what i am doing here I look forward to the feedback!